U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican who is presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s running mate in his bid to replace President Barack Obama in the White House, stopped at Oakland University for a victory rally Monday evening, taking the stage after a string of remarks by fellow Republicans and a rousing introduction by musician Kid Rock.

Kid Rock called the 42-year-old Ryan “a fellow hunter, a fellow rock and roller, and a fellow midwesterner.” The entertainer also said, “I believe we can disagree about politics without hating each other.”

Then it was Ryan’s turn, taking the stage at 8:30 p.m., about an hour after he was scheduled to appear.

“Mitt and I want to earn your support,” Ryan told the crowd. “You get to decide what kind of country we’re going to have.”

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Ryan repeated goals of getting rid of Obamacare and stopping the raid on the Medicare trust fund.

“We can’t keep mortgaging our children’s future,” he said.

Ryan was at the university’s O’rena, the same venue where Romney and seven other Republican presidential hopefuls debated last November.

The feisty crowd, numbering several thousand, cheered when Ryan took the stage flanked by a sign that read, “We can’t afford four more years.”

Monday’s event was as much as a pep rally for Ryan, who debates Vice President Joe Biden Thursday in Kentucky. The upcoming debate wasn’t lost on Kid Rock either. “I might throw a keg party for the Ryan-Biden debate,” he said.

The event was also a staging event for other Michigan Republicans on the Nov. 6 ballot, including U.S. Senate candidate Pete Hoekstra, U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers from Livingston County, congressional candidate Don Volaric, candidate for county prosecutor Mike Bishop, and others.

Hoekstra seeks to unseat U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Rogers is being challenged for his seat by Lance Enderle, Volaric is running against U.S. Rep. Sander Levin from Royal Oak, and Bishop is looking to unseat Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper.

Hoekstra was working the crowd shaking hands prior to Ryan’s arrival, as was Kerry Bentivolio from Milford. Bentivolio and Democrat Syed Taj are on the ballot to replace former U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, who quit the House in the summer.

Bentivolio made a rare appearance, and even rarer public remarks. His message was that people need less government in their lives. “Our message is Republican values are for everyone, from a reindeer rancher from Milford to a businessman from Troy.”

Five polls listed Monday on the website realclearpolitics.com still show a close race nationally between Romney and the president. Polls ranged from a five-point lead for Obama to a four-point lead for Romney, with two showing the two men tied with four weeks until election day.

An average of five polls taken in Michigan in September shows Obama with a 10-point lead in the state. However, Republicans insisted Monday that “the road is through Michigan” to the White House.

Prior to the event, four buses dropped of the band from L’Anse Creuse schools. Ninety minutes before the start of the 7 p.m. rally, lines of people wound around the outside of the athletic center.

Democrats held their own news event at a union hall down the road from the university in mid afternoon, among them U.S. Rep. Sander Levin. The Royal Oak Democrat criticized the Romney-Ryan tax plan as misleading and said it would benefit millionaires but “soak” the middle class.

Not everyone was thrilled with the appearance of Ryan at Oakland University.

An email Sunday from OU President Gary Russi to the campus community advising that 300 tickets would be available to students drew an email response from Seth Jones that read, “What a waste of time.”